Mending Hearts
by romancing-the-moon
Summary: Princess Luna contemplates her banishment before returning home and discussing the matter with her sister, Princess Celestia.


_Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal_ - Pamela Vaull Starr

The princess was without her thrown that day. Alone and forgotten, she pawed at the grey dust beneath her feet and tried not to look up at the earth for the thousandth time in an hour. She didn't know what year it was specifically, but she had an approximate idea; if it wasn't for the sun's cycle, she would have lost track of all time. She was used to seeing her former home like that by now, hovering gently in front of her - a giant ball of green and blue, perfect and serene in all its infinite glory. It's where she used to be... where she should be... where she wasn't.

The bitterness and resentment that resided in her heart over shadowed her suddenly and she looked away, angry and exasperated. The hurt grew exponentially in her heart, spreading to every inch of her body, replacing hurt with anger. She turned from the earth that hung so beautifully in the dark sky and charged towards the nearest rock, picking up speed with every step and lowering her head in anticipation. Her horn pierced the rock first and it shattered into hundreds of pieces, each flying around her body as she broke through the rest of the rock. When she stopped charging, she ruffled her wings, shaking the dust from her feathers, and realized that the rock was broken. She turned back to see its destruction, careful to not focus on Earth for any particular length of time.

The rock did nothing to alleviate her anger so she turned to a new rock and charged at it, breaking it too.

Over and over, she charged at rock after rock until she was out of breath and her horn was raw, red and bloody. Her wings stung and she was rapidly blinking dust from her eyes. She stood among the destruction that lay strewn around her, the debris that she created but when she looked back up, the earth was still hanging there, beautiful and clam as it ever was. She bent her head to the ground as she regained her breath but she was tired and weakened from her self-induced injuries and with nothing left to hold herself together, tears ran down her face and dripped on her hooves.

Her sister had been right to send her here, to banish her here. She needed to be alone with her thoughts in a place where she couldn't hurt any pony, high up on her beloved moon. She had been away from Equestria for so long - nearly one thousand years and she wondered whether anyone remembered her or just the stories that she authored. She wanted, craved, approval from every pony but especially from her older sister, the one who could raise the sun with her powerful magic, the one who was worshiped by all of Equestria for her beautiful days. But what of the younger princess?

Dark and mysterious, Princess Luna only appeared at night, a shadowy figure that frightened young fillies and colts, giving them nightmares and horror stories. She was nothing like Celestia and nothing she did ever brought her closer to being like Celestia. Luna thought about her sister, how she would sometimes stay up throughout the night when the other ponies slept just so she could see what kind of night Luna brought. Luna shook her head in shame: it wasn't enough for the younger sister and a flash of anger tore through her once more. This time she let out a sharp cry: she yelled continuously until her lungs here hoarse and she could only cough. Weakly, she let her legs give out from underneath her and she collapsed on her belly, weeping.

Luna lay on the moon's surface until the next sun cycle. She opened one eye weakly but lifted her head when she realized how significant this particular cycle was: she had been imprisoned for almost one thousand years and as she looked around her, she sat up and closed her eyes once more. Concentrating all of her inner strength, all of the magic that still resided deep inside her soul, she felt the stars' power and new that soon, Nightmare Moon would rise again.

/

"How now dear sister?" Luna's voice thundered throughout Celestia's chamber. Looking up from her latest friendship report, Celestia smiled, genuinely happy to see her younger sister.

"Hello, little sister. How are you this evening?"

"Oh, we are fine!" Luna said but she didn't come into the chamber.

"I saw you raise the moon tonight. It was beautiful."

"We thank thou, dear sister, as we too prefer the glow of a full moon to that of any other moon!" Luna trotted her front hooves but still didn't move from her spot outside the chamber.

"My favourite though has always been the stars, like far away diamonds on a black blanket."

"The stars are very important to us!" Luna said proudly and Celestia knew immediately what she was referring too.

"I know, they are apart of your soul."

Luna looked at Celestia and thought for a moment. "Yes... we do agree with thine statement!"

"Is there something bothering you?" Celestia asked after a moment of silence between the two.

"Oh..." Luna said slowly, lowering the tone of her voice slightly. "Are we disturbing thou?"

"No, never. I'm just want to make sure that you're alright."

"Well..." Luna bellowed hesitantly and Celestia smiled again, wondering how her sister could bellow so but still be unsure of herself. "We were wondering," Luna continued. "Why did thou forgivest us so easily?"

Celestia looked surprised by the question. She put her letter aside and trotted over towards Luna. "You are my dear sister and for too long we were apart. I had always hoped that one day you and and I would rule Equestria together, as we were meant to do. That was my dream from the moment you left Equestria."

Luna thought for a moment and then walked over to the grand window in the center of the room. Using her magic, Luna pushed the window outwards and let some of the cool night air circulate throughout the room. She felt her sister come up behind her and neither of them said anything for a few moments - they just stared up at the moon.

"Tis different," Luna whispered as quietly as she could in her Royal Voice. "From this side!"

Celestia raised an eye brow but didn't say anything.

"We are happy we can see it!"

Celestia smiled and leaned her head against Luna's.

"As am I, little sister. As am I."


End file.
